The Biz: Was The Writers' Strike Worth It?

Thursday

Jan 31, 2013 at 12:18 PM

Watching New Girl or Homeland on a computer, smartphone or Xbox has become so second nature that it's hard to remember that new technology once brought Hollywood to a standstill.How writers are paid for the digital distribution of their work ...

TV Guide

Watching New Girl or Homeland on a computer, smartphone or Xbox has become so second nature that it's hard to remember that new technology once brought Hollywood to a standstill.

How writers are paid for the digital distribution of their work was at the core of the 100-day work stoppage in 2007 that put primetime viewers on a diet of reality and reruns. Daily Variety deputy editor Cynthia Littleton, who chronicles the battle and its impact in her new book, TV on Strike: Why Hollywood Went to War Over the Internet, says that while many writers suffered a financial beating from the walkout, they had little choice but to take a hard line. It was a good move: Netflix, Hulu and other services that have emerged since the strike have proven that online viewing is a robust business.

"If the writers had not pushed it to the mat, the studios would not have said, 'Here's a formula for digital residuals,'" Littleton says. "I think they would have said, 'We can't do it right now.'" (The sides finally agreed on a deal that currently has writers getting an additional 3.5 percent on the minimum rerun compensation rate for a TV script.)

How long will this peace settlement last? With more money rolling in from online viewing, negotiations could get testy again when the Writers Guild contract comes up in 2014. "Not a day goes by that we don't write about a big digital-rights deal," says Littleton. "It will definitely be on the table."

Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!

View original The Biz: Was The Writers' Strike Worth It? at TVGuide.com